text:
Tourism comes (slowly) to Chile's best-kept secret
You've likely never heard of the island of Chiloé, in southern Chile, but Charles Darwin knew alll about it.
The island's diverse ecosystem inspired the famed scientist to explore the area.
Much of what Darwin saw in 1834 you can still find today.
Bright green forests populate the entire western side of the island, a close-knit penguin colony makes its home on the north. Marine fauna includes blue whales, dolphins, sea lions and sea otters.
Because the island developed independently of the mainland, it was and remains largely free from the influences of colonialism and capitalism that marred the country's modern big cities with a dull urban monotony.
The country's second-largest island (8,394 square kilometers), Chiloé has a cool climate and fresh breezy air that offers a pleasant alternative to the dry heat of Chile's big cities.
Paradise, right?
In a way, yes, but the island's ancient legacy may be about to change at a pace Darwin himself could never have imagined.
New airport, new business
For years, Chiloé was a trek reserved for groups of Chilean senior citizens on tour buses, or young backpackers who didn't mind the mind the 14-hour bus trip from Santiago to the coast, followed by a ferry journey.
But the mystical island brimming with one-of-a-kind sightseeing and adventure activities has recently gotten easier to access.
In November 2012, Chile's LAN Airlines opened a one-terminal airport on the island and began flying from Santiago to Chiloé's capital city of Castro (with a stop in Puerto Montt) with the goal of bringing tourism to the island in a big way.
Chiloé's waters, coastline and culture are the main attractions.
Visitors explore the island's rocky coastline in traditional wooden boats, and take pictures of its naval-inspired architecture.
Spanish Jesuits arrived on Chiloé in the 17th century and used local shipbuilders to construct their wooden chapels. The result is a land dotted with churches marked by domed roofs that have the structure of a ship hull.
Another Chiloé postcard image is of a strip of palafitos (brightly painted stilted houses). The stilts allow owners to work beneath their houses during low tides.
Many of these ancient houses are abandoned, but others are being turned into boutique hotels and restaurants.
Here come the foreigners: risks and rewards
The risks facing Chiloé are the same facing any developing tourism region, though ones that can be especially tough on island environments. Increased amounts of garbage and pollution -- which can be difficult and costly for islanders to dispose of -- are just one threat.
While tourism-related jobs are welcome, some fear the abandonment of traditional trades and loss of culture.
The influx of tourists on Chiloé remains limited, but for some, the drawbacks of tourism can far outweigh the benefits.
Enjoy Chiloé Resort and Casino is a giant complex overlooking a row of palafitos that many locals call an eyesore. Some, though, admit to enjoying a little more activity on the island.
In some ways, the new airport seems premature. The one-room building welcomes one flight a few times a week, yet its machinery often seems to be in disrepair and the small staff can be overwhelmed even with the few flights that pass through the gates.
On top of that, LAN charges foreigners far above domestic prices. A recent ticket booked on LAN.com from Santiago cost US$633. The same ticket booked within Chile costs about US$150.
"Just like Disney World in Orlando offers Florida residents local discounts, as a South America-based carrier, we offer a discounted rate to residents in our home markets on domestic routes," explains Megan Kat Williams, marketing communications manager at LAN.
Much the island seems ill equipped to handle a large influx of tourists.
While there's a wealth of activities and sightseeing on the island, there's also a lack of local staff prepared to welcome foreigners. For many travelers, of course, this is precisely the reason to come to Chiloé.
Even the UNESCO-protected churches, which have drawn a stream of architecture buffs, are often closed unless previous arrangements have been made. Of about a dozen churches, only a few had anyone manning the doors on a recent trip, offering to give short tours in Spanish only.
The markets are full of fluffy wool products that smell just like the sheep from which they were recently sheared, and local yellow and green vegetable dyes. A warm wool sweater runs about US$30 and hand-knit socks go for about US$6 a pair.
With few exceptions, there's no haggling in the markets, perhaps because stall owners are used to spendthrift backpackers.
But some have already gotten hold of a few English words, and it's easy to imagine vendors soon chasing tourists with cries of "handmade," "artisanal," and "VISA/MasterCard!" while trying to hawk ponchos with uneven stitches.
Trying to do it right
In the small and picturesque capital of Castro, a new 12-room luxury hotel called Refugia may be an example of how tourism might develop in Chiloé.
The hotel is promoting what it calls a new program that could shape how visitors experience the island.
Refugia tour guide Caroline Peña Tondreau is integrating the hotel into the local community by offering visits to local houses to see traditional agriculture and communitarian economics.
"Responsible tourism is a monumental challenge in Chiloé," says Tondreau. "It makes sure that the territory, the host community, the local people, culture, heritage, environment, become the core, the sense, the reason for tourism. Responsible tourism is tourism for the destination."
It's rare that Chilotes limit themselves to one trade. A family may have a hand in the fishing industry, make cloudy apple cider at home, harvest dozens of varieties of potatoes, sell fresh eggs, spin raw wool and knit scarves to sell at markets.
Money isn't a focus on the island. In fact, most natives operate under a type of barter code called minga -- swapping services, instead of coins, with neighbors.
Even supermarkets often run on fiado, or credit, letting residents run up a list of items and pay at the end of the month. The financial system on the island makes spreading the tourism industry difficult to monetize.
Refugia itself is another ship-like example of local architecture. Its rooms all face the water and are decorated with Chiloéan local wool and handicrafts. A 20-minute drive from the new airport, the hotel includes all meals, which center around local seafood and purple potatoes.
The high price tag (US$530 per person, per night, based on double occupancy) includes all activities, from horseback riding through wetlands, visiting village houses, bird watching or touring the markets.
Palafito Hostel offers an alternative for backpackers interested a Chiloé experience in an authentic palafito. Rooms range from US$21 for a dorm-style room to US$89 a night for the wedding suite. Most rooms have an ocean view.
Indigenous culture
Local traditions are handed down by the island's tribes: the Chonos, a nomadic seafaring tribe, and the Huilliche (part of the Mapuche population), who settled here from the mainland.
Instead of doctors, shamans prescribe herbal concoctions and perform rituals to cure simple afflictions. Instead of police, bodies of witches deal with everything from small disputes between neighbors to misbehaving animals.
Often, the desire to stay within a witch's good graces keeps people in check.
In fact, much of the daily life on the island is explained by ancient mythologies. The Trauco is a forest dwarf who covers himself in bark and attacks virgins, a scenario often used to explain unwed pregnancies in villages.
The further away you get from the island's main cities, the more intensely people are likely to believe in the mythology.
For Tondreau, the way to enjoy the island is to not have any expectations.
"Forget time and schedules, because you need to get into the Chilote rhythm," she says. "The best way is to listen, to let local people guide you in your experience, to let them talk, to accept their hospitality."
The message isn't unfamiliar to those who like to be on the edge of travel trends.
If you're willing to put up with a slowly developing infrastructure and a few unexpected hassles in exchange for a land of still-untouched beauty, Chiloé is a place best visited sooner than later.
Where to stay
Refugia, San José Playa, Casilla 217, Castro, Chiloé; +56 65 772 080; from US$530 per person, based on double occupancy, single; refugia.cl
Palafito Hostel, Ernesto Riquelme #1210, Castro, Chiloé; +56 65 531 008; from US$21 per night; palafitohostel.com


text:
By Brian Mullin and Francis Cebedo
For the 2013 product year, they'll have most of the model range in 29er sizes (except gravity tires), and 650B will get the Hans Dampf, Nobby Nic, Racing Ralph, Rapid Rob and Rocket Ron. It's nice to see Schwalbe stepping up to the plate with a big chunk of their tires in the popular new 650B/27.5 size. They are also releasing a new meatier version of the Hans Dampf, named the Super Gravity. All the tires get a new font look, and Schwalbe is changing their information on the tire, so it's easier and more legible to read.
The most exciting news of all is that Schwalbe is embracing the 650b platform and offering many different tires. Often with a new platform, the best tires are always the last to adopt the standard and early users are left compromising with tire designs that over four years old.
Mtbr has been given the opportunity to test the Hans Dampf, Nobby Nic and Rocket Ron in the 650b wheel size. These tires are some of the best available to day and even the most demanding consumer will be pleased with one of these offerings.
First observation is the tires are huge. All three tires mentioned have big volume with wide profiles and a tall casing height. This is significant since the 650b wheel size is only 40% of the way between a 26er and 29er tire. And in the early days of 650b tires, most were low volume and low profile to fit them in 26er fork or frame. Schwalbe has done away with this 'retrofit' requirement and created some of the biggest 650b volume tires around. This will enable better adoption of this wheel size as users are able to fully realize the upper limit of the 650b tire diameter.
Here are the weights of the three 650b tires:
Hans Dampf 650b – 818 grams
Nobby Nic 650b – 717 grams
The weights go from 818 grams for the Hans Dampf and a ridiculously light 498 grams for the Rocket Ron (with light casing). All are big volume tires so these weights are quite impressive. The Hands Dampf is the true leader of this crop because 650b has set the bullseye on the All Mountain 5-6″ travel bike. And for this category of bike, there are few tires that excel as well as the Hans Dampf. Here is a tire with superb grip and predictability. And to top it off, it rolls pretty darn well as the knobs are closely spaced and the casing is supple.
The Rocket Ron is just a headshaker with it's huge girth but featherweight numbers at 498 grams. The knobs are short and the side wall is very thin. So we dare not set it up tubeless. But we've used it with tubes and we have been shocked so far by its performance. Get the pressures right and it rolls and corners very well.
So there is the exciting line of 650b tires we've tried so far from Schwalbe. We'll let Brian Mullin explain some more of the technology behind these designs.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Job Details
Foster's Daily Democrat is seeking a website developer/administrator to help propel our website into the most comprehensive news and information website in northern New England. Candidate will work hand in hand with news, information technology and advertising departments. Individual must be motivated and energetic and one who enjoys the challenges of a fast paced environment. An extremely strong work ethic that is innovative is an absolute must.
Qualified applicants will be responsible for:
— Use industry web tools such as HTML, JavaScript, PHP and CSS to develop and cultivate the website
— Video/slide show/photo gallery and multi-media experience
— Work with multiple media vendors concurrently
— Creation of site layout/user interface from provided design concepts by using standard web practices
— Design and layout of web pages
— Be actively involved in and contribute regularly to the development of the CMS system
— Determine appropriate applications and/or other technical solutions, and make relevant recommendations to web related projects
— Alert colleagues to emerging technologies or applications and the opportunities to integrate them into operations
— Manage project tasks, timelines and communications
— Work closely with peers and managers to both develop clear project timelines and ensure timely completion while maintaining expectations
— Assist in gathering requirements and project specifications
— Work effectively with multiple departments to implement company initiatives
— Routine daily maintenance of existing site and applications
— Ideal candidate will possess higher education qualification in computer science or related field such as a degree, diploma or certificate from a credible source is preferred. Significant equivalent experience may be considered.
— Web development expertise in current and emerging web-authoring tools. A solid understanding of web application development processes, from the layout/user interface to relational database structures.
— Paywall implementation/management
— Familiarity with Social Media platforms and best practices
— Sound knowledge of web related software and willingness to stay current with tools to keep website on the cutting edge.
— Conduct self in professional manner. Must be cooperative and open to direction and feedback.
— Strong organizational skills to manage multiple projects and timelines.
— Strong verbal and written skills with excellent communication ability. Ability to effectively communicate with peers, managers and clients.
— Experience in web design, graphic design, typography, advertising and marketing is welcome.
Apply to:
Brian Potvin
Foster's seeks website developer/administrator
Job Details


text:
A former state representative and secretary of the Executive Office of Elder Affairs has been tapped to lead the Massachusetts office of AARP, the state's largest advocacy organization for older people.
AARP announced Thursday that Michael E. Festa, 58, a longtime Melrose lawyer and resident, will take over as director on Tuesday.
Festa said in a phone interview that one of his top priorities will be to make sure the voices of 800,000 Massachusetts members are heard in Washington, particularly on the issue of protecting the future of Social Security. AARP figures show that Social Security accounts for 56 percent of the typical older Massachusetts resident's income.
"The truth is, there are a lot of seniors living in poverty, on the margins," Festa said. "If they have pensions, they are very modest, and if they have savings, a lot of it is being eaten up by medical co-payments."
Festa said another priority will be to advocate in Massachusetts for more funding for home-based care for seniors, a state program that provides services to eligible elderly people who need help to continue living independently in their homes.
The program has faced chronic funding gaps, leading to what's become known as the Home Care Wait List, with more than 1,000 seniors across the state eligible but unable to get the services.
"We believe very strongly that the time for ending those waiting lists are long past," said Festa, who noted that his maiden speech as a state representative in 1999 was advocating for more money for the home care program.
Festa served in the state House nearly nine years, before stepping down to take the Elder Affairs post in 2007. While a representative, Festa championed the Equal Choice bill, later signed into law, which allows disabled seniors a choice of receiving the same amount of state subsidy for care at home as they would receive in a nursing home
At Elder Affairs, he focused on expanding senior employment and civic engagement opportunities as well as increased access to resources and services for abused elders.
When he resigned from the post in January 2009, amid a deepening recession and significant cuts to elder services, advocates said that had it not been for Festa's leadership, the cuts would have been deeper.
"He brought an energy to that office," then-AARP Massachusetts director Deborah Banda said in a January 2009 Globe article. "He was out in the community ... and he made sure that the people who relied on these services had a voice at the table."
"Mike is dedicated to helping people," Linda Fitzgerald, AARP Massachusetts volunteer state president, said in a statement. "Throughout his career, he has worked to improve the lives of those who are vulnerable as well as seniors and persons with disabilities."
After leaving state government, Festa served as president and chief executive of the Carroll Center for the Blind, until his resignation in 2011 over a dispute with the center's board. He began his career as an assistant district attorney in Middlesex County.
Kay Lazar can be reached at email@example.com. Follow her on Twitter @GlobeKayLazar.


text:
This one's been an open secret for months now, but Nokia has finally formally introduced the 7710, their new multimedia-centric smartphone that'll be the very first handset to run on their new Series 90 software (the 7700 was supposed to have been the first one, but they ended up killing it before it ever came out). No keypad, but you do get a nice, big, widescreen LCD, a one megapixel digital camera, FM tuner (with Nokia's new Visual Radio software), Bluetooth, an optional DVB-H mobile digital TV attachment (it's mainly European thing), and, perhaps most importantly of all, no sidetalkin'! Click to see a bunch more photos.
Nokia 7710 is official
Sponsored Links


text:
Shop by Category
Shop by Type
More Options
Welcome to the old Black Bed Sheet Books site.
The Black Bed Sheet Book Store has moved!
We are growing in leaps & bounds, and come check out our exciting new online store OPEN NOW!
(New Global Community now open, too!)
This goshopper site is now a site that exists only to tell people we have moved if
they clicked on an old link.
Our EXCITING NEW STORE open to the GENERAL PUBLIC, RETAILERS,
is here:
©2020 Black Bed Sheet Books Authors Only - A special site for Black Bed Sheet authors only! Fine publishers of exemplary literature, fiction & non.
Terms of Use
Free Ecommerce Software Hosted By 1FreeCart.com - Get Your FREE Shopping Cart Software Here
A great eBay Alternative and Yahoo Merchant Alternative


text:
|Warm Weather Is Here! Order Car Floor Mats before it rains.
CarCoverguys specializes in Car Covers and Automotive coverings including Dashmat dashboard protectors, LeBra car bras, and Wolf Car Covers. We have patterns for every vehicle on the road today and we are constantly adding designs for new vehicle models. We also carry boat covers, spare tire covers, and custom carpeted floor mats, as well as specialty items like Spidy Gear bed webs and Gatornet Truck Tailgate nets.
For pickup trucks, we carry truck tonneau covers, cab organizers, and plastic fender flares. We also have a complete line of truck covers included in our car cover selection.
Whether you drive a car, truck, or SUV,
CarCoverGuys.com sells covers and soft goods designed to protect your
CarCoverGuys.com is committed to offering competitive prices on Dashmat, LeBra, and Wolf Car Cover Products.
Free Shipping applies to Ground Shipping (or USPS) in US only.
July 5, 2009
Our manufacturer, Global Accessories, has been sold to Covercraft, a manufacturer of car covers and seat covers. We hope to be offering products for sale on the site as quickly as possible. We would like to apologize for the inconvenience of our manufacturer's unexpected liquidation and sale.
Dashmat | VelourMat | UltimMat | Signature Series Dashmat| Custom Floor Mats | Logo Floor Mats
Wolf Car Covers | Lebra Front End Covers | LeBra Racing | Tonneau Covers | Tire Covers
Gatornet Tailgate Net | Spidy Gear Bed Web | Zone Guard | Truck Cab Organizer
Universal Boat Covers | Semi Custom Boat Covers | Watercraft Covers
Motorcycle Covers | Snowmobile Covers | ATV Covers | Mustang Covers | Corvette Covers
Cheap Car Covers | History | Contact
©2009 CarCoverGuys.com 848 N Rainbow Blvd # 2865 Las Vegas NV 89107
All Rights Reserved 1-877-427-8166 email@example.com
Car Cover Cleaning Tips
[Note: Even if you
aren't a Vegas resident, these
car cover cleaning tips work nationwide and other countries and
solar systems where water is abundant. DISCLAIMER: This advice is
from experience, and we are not liable for any damage to the cover
because of strong detergents, tearing, or other factors.]
Many of our Las Vegas customers want to get dust out of their covers after the monsoon season (officially starting in July) hits their cover with the dust or mud that rains from the sky. Even though the cover protects the vehicle from this skyborne sandpaper, it gets dirty. In other parts of the country, leaves and birds do a number on covers as well. This is the part where people come back and ask how to clean them.


text:
Episode 1, Episode 2 JR 1/04/2010 01:05:00 AM Tweet Edit
_______________________________________________________________« Prev Post Next Post »
He's kind of like a poor man's Scot Pollard :D
You mean Scott Pollard is kind of a poor man's Dwayne Schintizius? ;)
These things are hysterical. Not even watching a TV- priceless!
He should totally have his own show.
Btw I could totally see Schintzius sitting around and doing this now that his career is over...
Pollard and Schintzius: the Twin Towers of Joke :D


text:
Viewsonic has launched two new tablets at CES 2012 – the ViewPad 10pi and the ViewPad 10e. While the ViewPad 10e is a standard Android tablet, the ViewPad 10pi is a dual booting tablet which runs both Android and Windows.
Viewsonic ViewPad 10pi Specifications
The Viewsonic ViewPad 10pi comes with an Intel Oak Trail z670 processor clocked at 1.5 GHz and 2 GB of RAM. It also offers a 64 GB SSD and sports a 10.1 inch IPS display with a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels. It also comes with Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1 with EDR and optional 3G connectivity support.
It also offers a microSD card slot, and 2 USB ports. It has a primary 3 MP camera, as well as a secondary 1.3 MP camera. It is powered by a 3200 mAh battery, and runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread as well as Windows 7 Professional in a dual booting setup.
Viewsonic ViewPad 10e Specifications
The Viewsonic ViewPad 10e is a standard Android 2.3 Gingerbread tablet, which comes with a 9.7 inch IPS display with a resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels. It is powered by a 1 GHz ARM Cortex A8 processor and 512 MB of RAM. It offer 4 GB of internal storage, and microSD card support. It also has Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, and Bluetooth 3.0. It sports a 1.3 MP camera on the front face, and comes with a 5400 mAh battery.
The pricing for either tablet hasn't been announced yet.
Check out our complete CES 2012 coverage: Techie-Buzz @ CES 2012


text:
February Vegan Presence Review
Happy happy birthday, Vegan Presence! Yep, VP turned one this month, and they totes celebrated by hookin' us up! Seiously, this month's vegan goodie box is off the frickin' hook!
February VP Goodies:
- Beauty Without Cruelty Mineral Eyeshadow in Pride, $24 – Andrea (VP co-curator and one of the sweetest people in the world), how did you know I'm obsessed with purple eyeshadow? I also mega heart BWC. This sparkly, highly pigmented shade is to die for! Luuuuuuuurve it! ♥
- Purescriptive Grapefruit, Jasmine & Tuberose Moisturizing Soy Lotion Candle (Travel Tin), $9 – Soy candles that double up as moisturizers are the best things since cupcakes with sprinkles. 🙂 Soy is rich in Vitamin E, which has anti-aging and sun-damage reversing effects on the skin. And duuuuuuude, can we take a moment to acknowledge this incredible scent for a sec? One word = heaven.
- WEBA Natural Products Lavender Tea Tree Body Balm: $8 – This healing balm, which is packed with soothing lavender, eucalyptus, peppermint, mango, sweet almond and olive oils), camps out in my purse! I love having an emergency mini balm for some lip and body TLC.
- Homespun Northwest Lavender Eye Makeup Remover, $6 – This makeup remover doubles up as a toner, too. It smells, gorgeous, it's effective, and contains mega pure, non-toxic ingredients – lavender essential oil, vitamin E oil, organic mild castile soap, alcohol-free witch hazel, aloe vera juice, organic pure virgin coconut oil.
- Dr. Bronner's Peppermint Liquid Soap, $2.99 – I'm always stocked up on this refreshing, tingly, minty ish! It's my fave cleanser, and it so versatile! You can use it as a body wash, laundry detergent, floor cleaner, shampoo, DIY makeup brush cleaner, etc.
- Go Max Go Mahalo Candy Bar, $2.50 – Oh man, don't get me started on Go Max Go candy bars. They are my weakness. I've been known to eat 3 in one sitting. For all you Almond Joy lovers out there, this is the cruelty-free, vegan version, and it's addictive. Consider yourselves warned. 😉
- Be Natural Organics Golden Glow Lotion and Eye Serum, $3 – I go gaga over anything sparkly or shimmery, so this natural, Michigan-made lotion had me at "glow." Their eye serum is now a part of my ever-growing anti-aging arsenal (I'm gettin' old, people!). It contains sea buckthorn oil, argan oil, moringa seed oil, and oilalpha lipoic acid, which repairs free radical damage and increases cellular regeneration. Yes, please!
- Beach Organic Soaps sample in Atlantis – A gal can never have enough organic, hand-made soaps. I've yet to try this sample, but I'm sure it's hella awesome. 🙂
All these beauty goods are valued at $55.49 – HOLLA! 😀
Vegan Presence packages are SO MUCH FUN (and they're super eco)! Be sure to subscribe ($23 for a trial box or 3 months for $60, includes free shipping), so you can bask in all the vegan goodie glory with me!
Box was sent to me for review
About Sunny (Sunny's Profile)Longtime vegan, hardcore compassionate beauty junkie, serious cake aficionado, and lover of all things floofy and sparkly! If there's something in particular you'd like me to review, drop me a line at firstname.lastname@example.com. You can also find me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and Google +.
Filed in: Subscription Box
Comments (3)
Trackback URL | Comments RSS Feed
I did 6 months of Vegan Presence and LOVED it! Their packaging is earth friendly, and the curators are just plain nice 🙂 Plus they included the most lovely shade of lilac vegan nail polish in my final subscription. I'll be getting back on their list very soon!
VP is the one that tailors the box to each person, right? I was thinking of switching from the Vegan Cuts box to them because…this one has chocolate.
This post inspired me to get the trial box! This will be my first subscription box, and I'm SO stoked there's free shipping to Canada. 🙂


text:
Last night at Cowboys Stadium, Spring Dekaney snapped Cibolo Steele's 28-game winning streak and clinched the Class 5A Division II State Championship – the first football title for Spring ISD. On several occasions this year I've had numerous opportunities to cover the program as they feature one of the most talented running backs and an exciting offensive attack. Below is a feature I wrote for VYPE Houston after the Wildcats jumped out to a 5-0 start this season.
Here Come The Dekaney Wildcats
by Austin Staton
Growing pains are inherent. However, it is the resilient nature and yearning for success that breeds champions and builds character.
Four years ago, Dekaney High School fielded their first varsity football team under the direction of first-year head coach, Willie Amendola. Things weren't easy as the squad didn't feature a senior class and was bleak on upperclassmen as many student-athletes that were originally zoned to Dekaney opted to petition the district to stay at more traditional powers, Westfield and Spring.
With only an eight-game schedule due to Hurricane Ike, the Wildcats were winless in their first season of varsity competition. Moreover, they were outscored by nearly 35 points a game in district play and never crossed the goal-line more than twice per contest.
In both years two and three of the Amendola era, Dekaney began to provide hope for the program as they posted a 5-1 start during the 2009 season and finished the 2010 season with a 6-4 record with all four losses coming by a combined 13 points – including a pair of one point defeats at the hands of Tomball and Westfield.
That was the then.
With one of the most explosive and athletic running backs in the state of Texas in Trey Williams leading this season's squad, the Wildcats are primed for their first playoff berth.
As an offense, Dekaney averaged more than 44 points per game through the first four games of the season. Finally catching the eyes of pundits across the Houston area, the Wildcats were set for a homecoming showdown with perennial power Klein Collins with a chance to stake their claim as one of the elite teams in the talent-rich district 13-5A.
Behind the efforts of Williams' 215-plus total yards and three touchdowns – two rushing and one receiving – and D'Juan Hines' four passing touchdowns, Dekaney clinched the programs' first win over Klein Collins as they dropped the Tigers, 42-31, moving to 5-0 on the season.
"As a team we've talked about finishing (all season)," said Amendola. "We are more consistent throwing the football and the passing game is one of the biggest differences between this team and some of the other teams that we've had in the past."
"The win against Klein Collins gave us a lot of confidence and we needed the win to show everybody that we're here and we're coming," added Hines.
Through five games, Hines has completed 60 percent of his passes for 541 yards and 10 touchdowns.
Perhaps the best-kept secret on the team is Hines' favorite target, Austin Garrett. The 6-foot-3 receiver possesses standout athletic prowess with the ability to make critical adjustments to the ball while it is in flight. Of his nine receptions on the season, the senior receiver has recorded five touchdowns and is averaging 25 yards per catch.
"All you have to do is throw it to this guy (Austin Garrett) and he is going to make a play," said Williams, a Texas A&M commit.
In just four short years, Dekaney has formed a close knit group of student-athletes that look after each other and have a will to succeed. Off to a 2-0 start in the ultra-competitive North Houston district, the Wildcats are right where they want to be – in the mix for their first playoff berth.
"We've wanted to make the playoffs for three-straight years and our time is now," said Garrett.
"This is a team game," added Williams. "We're a confident team and we have a lot of team leadership and team unity. We plan on making it and hopefully God can keep blessing us to do well and protect our athletes."
The original feature can be found here.


text:
I remember arriving as a doctoral student researcher while visiting one of Latin America's megalopolis capitals. This particular time it was Mexico City, or el DF, as they called it in Mexico. This gran metropolis also had a more notorious name, el 'Monstruo,' the Monster. It was, and definitely still is, a Monster, both in actual size and in population count.
Seeing the octopus urbanization from the plane, while landing onto the airport strip, was a shocking sight. The aerial vision portrayed brown-yellow vomit chunks from an ancient Aztec God. The whole mess represented a massive urban polis filled with hodgepodges of grey-black conglomerations, connected by various mini megalopolises of construction sites and twisting roads. The traffic never seemed to stop.
Squatters had previously built ramshackle houses of concrete cinder blocks and alloy metal roofs along the mountains and hills, and surrounding those harsh pits of humanity were a few ominous brown volcanoes in the far distance.
Only three hundred years ago, this city of 150,000 people had a massive blue lake around it. The city possessed as many canals as streets. Residents proudly called Mexico City the Venice of the Americas. But now, Lake Texcoco is almost completely dried up. Throughout the centuries, the city's colonial 'authorities' murdered the surrounding lake beds and canals due to the incessant flooding during the rainy seasons. The dirty grey and black water floods still come in the late summer however. They will never leave.
Latin America's melancholic past has included some horrifying stories and incidents. The long list comprises state sponsored genocides, impregnable state corruption, military-executioner honchos, killer narcos, paramilitary murderers on the prowl, murderous destruction of natural resources for easy gain, 'vendepatrias,' or politicians that sell out their people to the Amerikan Embassy, prison infernos, mass murders of 'campesinos,' or farmers.
Such historical accounts can never forget the institutional murders, or disappearances, against journalists and activists, with the terrible poverty, extremes of wealth between the mostly poor population and the few rich people. All across Latin America grows incessant misery, aggressive begging, common criminality, police state cruelty, and street riots with dead bodies lying around – with those infamous 'golpes de estados,' or coup d'états. Why has Latin America continually suffered from such diseases and terrible outbreaks? Even the revolutionary Simon Bolivar predicted such catastrophes for the Americas.
The reason for all of this daily terrorism and institutional violence has been due to three hundred years of Iberian colonialism. The worst forms of this colonialist violence moved in three stages: political-economic, legal, and racial. The most heinous actions of its colonial crimes represented its racial codes, or as they stated some three hundred years ago, 'castas,' or racial castes.
The Latin colonial systems, representing mostly the Spanish and the Portuguese, managed their 'colonies' as privileged economic districts for investment. They had maintained a massive slave worker-forced laborer system on export crop plantations, such as sugar. Slaves also worked inside linen factories, called 'obrajes' in Spanish, and in gold and silver mines.
During the colonial period, most native farmers did not fall into these slave systems – but other unfortunates did. This was especially true for many Africans, first kidnapped from their home continent, next brought over on cargo ships, later worked to death as slaves in the Americas.
The colonial powers taxed and heavily legislated against all of their subjects, whether Europeans, natives or African-Americans. These colonial codes had the names of the Laws of the Indies. The colonial authorities even legislated the style of clothes and jewelry wearing depending on social class status. Most colonial subjects ignored those laws, but the system had already set a bad legal precedent.
This violent colonial system tried to keep separated laws, dress codes, neighborhoods, religious confraternities, or brotherhoods, guilds and churches depending on social class and racial status. The Latin colonial authorities of the Americas had created the classical, racist Apartheid system. By the 1600s, the Spanish referred to it as, 'mandamientos a las castas,' or rules relegating the racial castes.
During the eighteenth-century, the 1700s, the only legal outlet for a casta person was to become 'Latinized,' speaking the language well, dressing well and having a good economic social position. The racial caste person could then receive an officially, royally stamped 'certificate of whiteness.'
Three hundred years of this racial apartheid still infects the minds of millions of Latin Americans. It was not as bad as the actual US institutional racism-prison industrial complex against African-Americans; but like all forms of racialism, it was mentally and institutionally brutal nonetheless.
This particular colonial caste system created a terminal germ of self-hatred that still eats out the brains of many Latin American people, and especially the political-economic elites. Latin America can never achieve its long desired freedom and dignity as long as the bacillus parasites of self-hating 'politicos,' or politicians, gorges the insides of Latin America's soul.
After spending some months living and researching in Mexico City, I began to notice daily and common annoyances concerning the adverts on the subway platforms, inside the metro cars, and on the billboards around the city. I also spotted similar issues on the 'telenovelas,' or Latin American soap operas, and on the stupid gossip and slapstick shows so ubiquitous to Latin American bad television.
Most of the presenters, actors, faces, images were of European looking people. It was impossible to find an indigenous face on any public program or advert. I found this especially strange inside particularly large national capitals, such as Mexico City and Lima. A majority of the people who live in such capitals are mestizo, a colonial caste denomination representing a mixture of an indigenous native and a European. Were there any actual mestizo faces on advertising and television?
I also noticed this problem in the cinema. It was still hard to find mestizo and indigenous faces on the screens. Visiting the many 'boticas,' or pharmacies in the cities, I perceived that one of the greatest scam businesses in the continent has represented the selling of skin lightening creams.
Dictator-murderers in Latin American history, such as Porfirio Diaz and Rafael Trujillo were regular users of such salves. Other Latin American corrupt bosses and dictators also seemed to have dipped into the magical Euro face ointments, such as Juan Manual Santos of Columbia and Vicente Fox of Mexico.
During the late nineteenth-century and early twentieth-century, eugenics became the rage of European and North American political-economic elites. Latin America also had its eugenics supporters during the same period. Why do the southern cone countries of southern Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Chile have so many European looking citizens walking around its loud and dirty streets?
During the late nineteenth-century, the dictatorial governments of those countries had opened up 'their lands' to a massive European immigration scheme. They desperately wanted to whiten their countries from the shame of their indigenous and Afro-Latino communities. These 'jefes,' or state bosses, had hoped that a legion of Nordic Vikings and Germanic rune masters would settle 'their continent' and save the lazy, racially putrid Latin America from itself. Argentina received the bulk of this desired group.
Unfortunately for the Latino Euro-fakers, the majority of the immigrants were more from the Southern and Eastern European varieties, and there were also Arabs, Asians, and even Ashkenazi Jews that mixed into the newer white crowd. The Argentine generals would finish off some of the more dangerous elements of this mixed group during their genocide of the 1970s, called the Dirty War against Subversives.
Argentina, the whitest country in Latin America, (actually Uruguay and Chile together), has had its recent, 'republican' history replete with genocides. The corrupt kingpins in power first moved their racial genocide against the large Afro-Argentine community. At one time, they were about 30% of the population like Venezuela today. The Argentine Buenos Aires junta, which ran the 'National Army,' (under President Mitre), forced all Afro-Argentines to fight in the numerous wars of Argentina.
The most brutal war in Modern Latin American history was the War of the Triple Alliance in the middle part of the 1800s: Argentina, Imperial Brazil and Uruguay against Paraguay. Thousands of Afro-Argentinian men lost their lives for such a bogus war, and the general thugs simply buried the Afro-soldiers in mass graves located around central Buenos Aires. The historical grave sites don't exist anymore.
The whitest countries of Latin American had almost exterminated the entire male population of the great Guarani-Mestizo Republic of Paraguay. Paraguay has still not recovered to this present day. This system of slow genocide continued well into the infamous War of the Desert in the latter part of the nineteenth-century.
The Afro-Argentine survivors would also die from recurrent outbreaks of cholera and yellow fever epidemics in their rat infested neighborhoods. The governments did nothing to help such poor people. The politicians felt good about the results. Now, only a few Afro-Argentines have survived, and their only cultural expressions live in the tango dance culture, and in Uruguayan Carnival.
The most heinous Argentinian genocide was the War of the Desert. General Julio Roca with a large Afro-Argentine and mestizo gaucho, or cowboy army, marched on the warpath to finally exterminate the recalcitrant barbarian 'indios,' or natives, in the Patagonia south, the Pampa central region, and the Gran Chaco north. In the south he tried to exterminate the great warrior nation of the Araucanians, or the Mapuches. The Mapuches have been continually fighting against colonialism and neocolonialism until this very day – mostly against the white Chilean crooks in Santiago.
Unfortunately, these state thugs had Winchester rifles, which worked marvelously in exterminating men, women and children. They successfully murdered tens of thousands of natives. There were also those European transplanted epidemics, which had already decimated the native nations. The actual killing figure is still unknown. General Roca had his name immortalized with pigeon shit statues around the country and his ugly mug on almost worthless bank notes.
As long as this sordid history retains the covers of pathetic lies and deadly omissions, then Latin America will continue to suffer the farce and absurdity of the bad life and the bad death. Argentina is not the only Latin American nation guilty of racialism and genocide. For example, Guatemala tried to do a similar racial liquidation program against the Mayan nation during the 1980s, further supported by the US government. Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Chile, Uruguay, Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela also tried their hands at such evil, racially incited, murderous practices.
Latin America will probably never be able to redeem its mind and soul from such an abusive history. But the true roots and holy souls of Latin America do not exist in London, Paris, Berlin or even in Miami, they continue to breathe inside the sacred earth, the medicinal plants, the powerful legends, the ancient gods, and those sacred native languages. Only in tortured Paraguay is the native language of Guarani one of its national tongues. And only a return to these sacrosanct cultures can ultimately transform the continent.


text:
Chris Anderson has famously compared the nascent drone market to the early days of PCs, comparing it with the Homebrew Computer Club, the Bay Area hobbyist meetup where the Apple I was first unveiled. It may seem an odd comparison—the drone is thought of as military technology and (more recently) luxury plaything, while the Homebrew Computer Club is remembered for its utopian beliefs about putting technology into the hands of the people. But while Apple's forays into personal computers were groundbreaking, the "PC" abbreviation historically referred to its greatest threat, the IBM PC standard, a revolutionary form of computer architecture that was easily licensed and copied, and which shaped the personal computer market for over a decade. Drones do not yet have a "PC standard," but if they did, it might be the tipping point that could catapult drones into the mainstream and unlock their social utility.
We have yet to see what this social utility will be. Militarized drone technology has a well-established place among the many tools of the surveillance state. Looking at the history of the computer's shift from an awkward, heavy, military and commercial engineering project to something we carry in our pockets, one wonders how drones might make a similar transition. Some of the first ideas for non-military drones, such as catching poachers, have some way to go in development before they will actually be useful. So far, one of the best uses for drone technology is in the field of cartography. Drones like senseFly's eBee can map a large area very quickly, and rectify imagery to GPS maps. But drones like these cost thousands of dollars and run proprietary software in order to work so seamlessly. What if drone technology were to be transformed in a similar manner to computers, so that standard architecture and operating systems allowed cheaper, more universal hardware and software?
In the late 1970s, desk-sized computers were typically terminals linked to mainframes where the real processing was done. But with the miniaturization of transistor functions into integrated circuits, desktop computers became possible.These early personal computers were sold as kits, and required a hefty investment as well as technical know-how to assemble and operate. When the Apple II was introduced in 1977, it was one of the first "out of the box" personal computers; BYTE magazine called it the first "appliance computer". But the Apple II was still expensive, and with an operating system and architecture limited to this machine only, all compatible software had to be designed specifically for this system. In 1980, less than 10% of 14 million small businesses in the US had personal computers, and of large corporations, less than 3% used personal computers on a regular basis.1 Investing in a limited hobby system was not a priority for most companies.


text:
Problems in exterior painting
Using this material, you can prevent, identify and correct the most common errors in applying paints and coatings.
Every page contains a picture and an explanation about a problem, a list of its possible causes and suggestions for solutions. If, for example, there is fungus on a painted external surface, choose the right page from the list below and learn about how to fix it.
Then again, if you don't know what the problem is, look for a similar picture or explanation from the pages. The page will tell you the cause of the problem and give suggestions for how to fix it.


text:
I was (surprisingly) so in love with China Glaze Papaya Punch when I wore it first time, that I wanted to wear it again. And I also thought it would be a nice base color for Wild and Crazy Shocking Pink (what a weird name for orange polish), that I bought just recently from Tallinn.
So I have one coat of Papaya Punch and one coat of Shocking Pink here with base and top coat. Sorry about the dents, I had to go to the store soon after I did this mani and I guess it wasn't dry enough for that.. Anywho, I really like both of these polishes and I think they make really nice combo. Shocking Pink is quite sheer by it self, but I knew that when I bought it, and as I thought, it's really nice layered over some other orange. Maybe I should try it over some other color too.. I really think that orange polish is a must for summer and I really should get some more..


text:
Contribute to ReadWriteThink / RSS / FAQs / Site Demonstrations / Contact Us / About Us
Whats Happening This Week
There is much more to explore in our calendar. Find other important events in literary history, authors' birthdays, and a variety of holidays, each with related lessons and resources.
Looking for age-appropriate book recommendations, author interviews, and fun activity ideas? Check out our podcasts.
Home › Classroom Resources › Calendar Activities
April 24
On this day in 1800, Congress approved the purchase of books to start the Library of Congress.
|7 – 12
|Calendar Activity Type
|Historical Figure & Event
The country's oldest cultural institution, the Library of Congress (LOC) is today also the largest library in the world. It houses almost 128 million items, including over 29 million books and other printed materials, 2.7 million recordings, 12 million photographs, 4.8 million maps, and 57 million manuscripts. The LOC's mission is to make its wealth of resources available to the Congress and the American people.
The Library of Congress (LOC) offers the perfect place to practice and refine research skills. Introduce students to the resources available at the Library of Congress website by conducting one of these research projects:
- Examine the September 11 attacks at the September 11, 2001 Documentary Project, filled with relevant resources.
- Explore Immigration in America with interviews, information on immigrants from all over the word, a timeline, and more.
- Students can investigate their own state's history or you could assign each student a different state to explore.
- This feature offers students many Amazing Americans to research. Select from presidents, reformers, explorers, musicians, authors, scientists, inventors, athletes, and more!
- StoryCorps offers ordinary people the opportunity to record their stories, which are then housed at the Library of Congress.
- The Library of Congress
Enter the Library of Congress website at their homepage. Here you'll find links to a wealth of resources for the classroom.
- Teachers: Library of Congress
This section of the Library of Congress website is designed especially for teachers. Included are lesson plans, activities, professional development, and more.
- America's Story from America's Library
This section of the Library of Congress website is designed just for young people. Featured topics include amazing Americans, the U.S. states, an historical timeline, pastimes and sports, and music.
- Today in History
Part of the American Memory Project of the LOC, this section provides information on what happened in history and culture every day of the year.
Grades 3 – 5 | Lesson Plan | Standard Lesson
Wartime Poetry: Working With Similes
Students analyze a photograph, brainstorm words to describe the characters' senses and feelings, work in pairs to describe a character's experience, and create a poem using their ideas and similes.
Grades 6 – 8 | Lesson Plan | Unit
Introducing Each Other: Interviews, Memoirs, Photos, and Internet Research
Students use their communication and writing skills as they interview a partner, write an article about them, and create a multimodal presentation to introduce their partner to the class.
Grades 9 – 12 | Lesson Plan | Standard Lesson
Review Redux: Introducing Literary Criticism Through Reception Moments
Literature takes on a life of its own as students take a hands-on approach to exploring A Raisin in the Sun for cultural and historical context.
Grades 9 – 12 | Lesson Plan | Standard Lesson
The Year I Was Born: An Autobiographical Research Project
Students explore the year they were born through interviews and research, and then weave the details into a newspaper or booklet, written from another person's point of view.


text:
Dear Students, IBPS, today, is conducting the Prelims Examination for RRB Clerk recruitment process of the financial year 2018-19. The 2nd Shift of the examination is over already. If you appeared for this exam today, we request you to share your exam experience with us that helps the other candidates know the nuts and bolts of today's IBPS RRB Clerk Prelims Examination. This will not only help the other banking aspirants get insights into today's examination but will help you also know your position among thousands of candidates who appeared for this examination. Also, share with us the questions that you remember from today's IBPS RRB Clerk Prelims Examination.
Your reviews will be propitious for the candidates who are yet to appear in this examination and will also help them build up their own strategies for the upcoming banking exams.
Kindly share the following details with us:
- The difficulty level of Quantitative Aptitude and Reasoning Ability Sections separately.
- The number of doable questions in these two sections.
- Any changes, if introduced in the pattern of questions.
- The questions that you remember from this examination.


text:
Live Chat
Contact us
Sign in to MyChart
A baby with hydrocephalus has extra fluid around his or her brain. This fluid is called cerebrospinal fluid. It lives in fluid-filled areas (ventricles) of your child's brain and spreads to the spinal cord.
Too much fluid can increase the pressure in your baby's head. This causes the bones in your baby's skull to expand and separate. His or her head may look larger than normal.
Hydrocephalus occurs in about 1 out of 500 babies. This condition may be caused by the following:
This condition can be congenital. This means that your baby is born with it. Hydrocephalus can also come on later in life. Causes of this condition include:
Symptoms can occur a bit differently in each child. They can include:
The symptoms of hydrocephalus may be similar to symptoms of other conditions. Make sure your child sees his or her healthcare provider for a diagnosis.
A healthcare provider may first spot this condition in your baby during an ultrasound in pregnancy. In many cases, hydrocephalus doesn't develop until the third trimester of the pregnancy. Ultrasounds done earlier in pregnancy may not show this condition.
Your child may be diagnosed with this condition after birth. Your child's healthcare provider will give your child an exam. The healthcare provider will ask you about your child's prenatal, birth, and family history. If your baby is older, your child's healthcare provider may ask if he or she is meeting milestones. Children with this condition may be likely to have developmental delays. If your child has a delay, his or her healthcare provider may check for underlying problems.
Your baby's head may be larger than normal. Your child's healthcare provider will measure his or her head. If your baby's head size isn't in the normal range, he or she will have tests. These tests can confirm hydrocephalus.
This test uses sound waves to create an image of the inside of the body. During pregnancy, this test can show the size of the ventricles inside of your baby's head.
This test uses large magnets, radio frequencies, and a computer. Together, these show detailed images of organs and structures inside of your baby's body.
This test uses X-rays and computer technology to make detailed images of any part of your baby's body. These include bones, muscles, fat, and organs. CT scans are more detailed than X-rays.
Treatment will depend on your child's symptoms, age, and general health. It will also depend on how severe the condition is.
The goal of treatment is to reduce the pressure inside of your baby's head. This is done by draining the fluid. Your child may need medicine to remove the extra fluid. Some children need surgery.
In surgery, a doctor places a mechanical shunting device in your baby's head. This helps to drain the fluid from your baby's brain. The fluid is directed to another part of your baby's body, where it can be absorbed.
The shunt usually runs behind your baby's ear. The tubing goes under your baby's skin to the abdomen, heart, or lung. Your baby's doctor will decide the drainage location. This will be based on your baby's condition, age, and other factors. The abdomen is generally the first choice. A ventriculoperitoneal shunt is often used to direct fluid into the abdomen.
Sometimes surgery and shunts can cause problems. Possible complications include:
After surgery, your child's healthcare team will tell you how to care for your baby at home. They'll also tell you symptoms that are an emergency. If your child has these symptoms, call his or her healthcare provider right away.
Your baby's healthcare provider may suggest genetic counseling if you plan to have more children. Through counseling, you can learn about the risk for this condition in future pregnancies. You may also need testing during pregnancy to check for hydrocephalus.
Hydrocephalus can affect your baby's brain and development. Your child's outlook depends on how severe his or her condition is. It also depends on other brain and health problems your baby has.
The key to treating this condition is getting it diagnosed and treated early, and avoiding infections. Your baby will need regular checkups to make sure his or her shunt is working right. Your child's healthcare team will work closely with you as your baby grows.
A baby with hydrocephalus has extra fluid around his or her brain.
Tips to help you get the most from a visit to your child's healthcare provider:
Vidant Health can connect you to health care professionals to help you understand your condition and guide you through the treatment process. Let's chat.


text:
The four candidates vying for three seats on the Walnut Creek City Council have diverging views on taxes, police and ultimately what the city needs for a stable financial future.
Incumbent Bob Simmons and challengers Barry Grove, Loella Haskew and Justin Wedel recently participated in a forum moderated by Times political editor Lisa Vorderbrueggen recently. The forums will begin airing on local government channels Saturday.
A recommendation by the city's Blue Ribbon Task Force on Fiscal Health for a half-cent sales tax increase — raising the rate to 8.75 percent and bringing in an estimated $7 million a year — has candidates on different sides.
Wedel, a small-business owner, said he is not yet convinced that a sales tax is necessary.
"I don't believe the city has done a good enough job of getting our fiscal house in order," he said.
He also asserted other taxing mechanisms should be investigated, such as a property tax, something "less regressive" than a sales tax, he said.
Grove also does not favor increasing the sales tax. There are downsides to such a tax, including that it would come out of the pockets of Walnut Creek families who can't afford to pay more for their goods, said Grove, a county deputy district attorney.
Current Mayor Simmons said voters need to decide on such a tax for themselves. If residents want the services at the levels currently provided, then more revenue is necessary, he said.
With sales tax revenue dropping by one-third during the Great Recession and with an aging city infrastructure, the sales tax has to be considered along with reining in costs, according to Haskew, a retired certified public accountant. She served on the task force that ultimately made the sales tax recommendation, and noted a sales tax would pass costs on to visitors of the city.
The candidates also weighed in on the level of police staffing in Walnut Creek. The police association has been vocal over the past few years in saying the city needs more officers. The City Council has approved two officer positions to be added back over the next two years.
Haskew said the overall crime rate is low and said of last winter's downtown drunken violence that the police did an incredible job. "The problem seems to be in control," she said.
Grove disagreed, saying he has worked as a prosecutor with the department and that the city is tempting fate by not having enough officers. He is specifically concerned because there are no longer school resource officers, which he said are important.
Wedel also called for more officers, and said children are not being protected because neighborhood community policing officers have been reassigned downtown.
Simmons said he looks to the chief of police for staffing level recommendations. There have been no officer layoffs and two police positions were unfrozen, he said, and he championed the City Council's recent passage of an ordinance focused on reducing bar violence downtown.
Contact Elisabeth Nardi at 925-952-2617. Follow her at Twitter.com/enardi10.
Walnut Creek candidates Roundtable
Air dates and times


text:
Clear skies: But sadness at final Kite Day
Way back in the spring of 1965, a group of folks got some friends together on top of Brown's Mountain (officially known as Mountain Top Farm). Their friends brought some other friends, and pretty soon an annual tradition of great views and brews was born.
Who knew it would last 39 years? Sadly, this year may be the final flight of Kite Day. The Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation has raised $15 million to purchase the farm lock, stock, and barrel.
The 330-acre lot was once owned by TJ, who christened it "Montalto." The Foundation has said it wants to eventually run public trails up the mountain, which– had it not intervened– could have sprouted mansions looking down on Monticello. [See story in the News section.–editor]
Just how do the residents feel about their removal? Sad to disappointed, but most agreed with the idea of preservation. The residents didn't let being forced to leave their apartment homes spoil Kite Day!
With a huge turnout, a giant inflatable panda bear, free South Street beer, and famous bluesman Corey Harris, this Saturday, May 29 event was fun for all ages– not to mention a glorious day to be outside.
Kite Day, you will be sorely missed...
Long-time Mountain Top Farm residents Keith and Pamela Donnelly are moving to Crozet.
Corey Harris sings some mountain-top blues.
The last Kite Day in all its glory.
Though the wind was calm, some kites bobbed about.
Resident Jacob Licht unties his kite string. He's excited about his impending move to Berkeley, California.
Patrick O'Hare is a master kite flier.
With the clearest day in weeks, the view was stunning.
Sajid Vohra takes one last look down at Monticello.


text:
Warm temperatures, rain delay start of Milwaukee tradition
Red Arrow Park won't open until next week
A Milwaukee winter tradition is delayed by unseasonal weather.
The season opener was scheduled for Friday, but warm temperatures and rain have frozen plans.
Warm temperatures and rain.
"It softens that surface. It creates pockets. It makes it very uneven, and then it's very hard to get it back to an even surface," said Guy Smith of the Milwaukee County Parks Department.
And just like that, Friday's re-opening was canceled.
The rink is back to cement. All of the ice was removed Tuesday, and Smith said this is really the best way they can get some good solid ice.
The new opening date is still on thin ice, especially with more precipitation in the weekend forecast.
"Our focus is going to be Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. We're really hoping we can be open next Friday. I can't guarantee that obviously, but our focus is quality," Smith said.
Smith said while they have to start over, there was one upside to the unseasonal weather.
"On one hand, we had the ice rink. On the other hand, we had golf. People are golfing again, so it's kind of an interesting season," Smith said.
Red Arrow Park is usually open through the end of February and skating is free if you have your own skates.


text:
UConn back in tourney after academic sanctions
Recommended Video:
STORRS, Conn. -- UConn guard Ryan Boatright didn't watch the NCAA tournament last year. It was too painful.
The Huskies were banned from that postseason because players that preceded them at the school had failed to meet NCAA academic standards.
"I barely watched TV, because it was everywhere," Boatright said. "It was hurting me every time I turned the TV on."
Now the Huskies are back in the tournament as a No. 7 seed, and will face Atlantic 10 champion St. Joseph's on Thursday in Buffalo, N.Y.
UConn players credit the adversity with giving them the tools to return to the tournament.
The low scores were first reported by The Associated Press early in the 2011-12 season, just months after Kemba Walker led the Huskies on an improbable run to the program's third national title.
That was the beginning of what coach Kevin Ollie referred to this week as "dark times."
Despite having a talented team, UConn struggled with consistency and leadership, and Hall-of-Fame coach Jim Calhoun missed numerous games with health issues. UConn lost to Iowa State in the first round of the 2012 tournament.
Within weeks, the sanctions became official, star center Andre Drummond and guard Jeremy Lamb left for the NBA and several other players transferred. Just before the 2012-13 season, Calhoun retired and handed the reins to Ollie, who had never held a head coaching job on any level.
"I thought myself, what was I going to do after that (loss to Iowa State)," said guard Shabazz Napier. "It still didn't hit me that we wasn't going to be in the postseason. It still didn't hit me. But it was kind of mind-boggling. What should I do now?
"Then I was hearing everyone was deciding to leave and I didn't know what to do. But I definitely thought to myself, there is always another chance to get out there. And I stayed and I gave myself the opportunity to do something."
Last year, despite the transfers and the ban that kept them out of both the Big East and NCAA tournaments, the Huskies went 20-10.
This season, they are 26-8, and one of just two teams to beat No. 1 Florida. Napier, who is leading the Huskies in scoring (17.4 points per game), rebounding (5.9), assists (4.9) and steals (58 this season) was voted the player of the year in UConn's new home, the American Athletic Conference.
The Huskies also have done their work in the classroom. Ollie announced in October that the team would report a perfect academic progress report score to the NCAA for the 2012-13 school year. That will become official in May.
"We're back where we belong," he said Sunday night.
St. Joe's coach Phil Martelli said he doesn't think the Huskies are hungrier than anyone else in the tournament, but believes they are prepared.
"I think when you have a staff like Kevin has acquired and you have a team that practices in an arena where they hang national championship banners, hunger and motivated and the next part of the question is nervous -- I don't anticipate that at all," he said of the Huskies.
Forward DeAndre Daniels said everyone on this team chose to stay through the tough times or joined the team during them.
"Transferring never crossed my mind," he said. "I'll always be loyal to UConn, it's just who I chose, it's the school I love. It's just exciting now, because we've been planting our seeds since we couldn't make the tournament last year, and now it's finally here and now it's just time to get to work."
The journey back isn't over, Napier said.
"It's definitely a special feeling to get another chance," he said. "But you've got to take the opportunity at hand and take advantage of it. Hopefully, we do that."


text:
Florida Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria is really confident that his team can make it all the way to October this season.
In San Juan, Puerto Rico, during the recent Mets-Marlins series, his words to the media were clear as water.
"We're very good at what we do, and we can make it a lot better," Loria said. "We should be able to make a charge. I haven't given up on the season, and neither have the players. Period."
However, after so many disappointments throughout the unsteady history of their franchise, it is not easy to find a baseball fan that does not feel fishy about their team.
Specially these days with the latest news from the NBA's Miami Heat.
Maybe it could be a fantasy, an invention or pure utopia, but whoever is running their public relations really knows their business well.
Heat fans these days are looking forward to see if Pat Riley can really pull it out to have Dwayne Wade return and play alongside Chris Bosh and LeBron James.
At the moment, with the NBA free agency period just starting, it sounds like it isn't something imaginative at all, but if it happens it would sound like the most inconceivable team put together in Miami.
Most of the South Florida media is already calling it the most extraordinary sports crew ever built since the Miami Dolphins' perfect season and consequent winners of the Super Bowl in 1972 and 1973.
In comparison, nobody have incurred in at least mentioning the Florida Marlins World Series Champions teams of 1997 and 2003.
Great teams no doubt about it, but in the memory of South Florida baseball fans, however, there is still some hesitation even today.
Both championship teams were consider "Cinderella squads", as they won their right to post-season via the wild card. Moreover, there is still distrust and disbelief in the owners.
Both the 1997 and 2003 teams were dismantled and not giddy to be a dynasty like the New York Yankees.
On the other hand, the Heat at least sounds like they are in a real quest to build a dynasty and return to be kings of the NBA courts. A long rundown like the Los Angeles Lakers.
It is unfortunate that these days, it is more common to listen around any corner in South Florida if probable All-Stars Dan Uggla, Jorge Cantu and Cody Ross will be traded before the end of this month.
If Hanley Ramirez will have another tantrum with his new skipper Edwin Rodriguez and will ask to be traded in order to make true his dream to get out of an Marlin uniform.
It is time the Marlins not to fool their own fans.
Chris Coghlan is great. Gaby Sanchez and Mike Stanton are great prospects and they could be National League Rookie of the Year candidates. However, Marlins fans want to not only be just a contender for this season, they really want consistency and a dynasty.
Loria—if he wants to be credible and erase his image of distrust—should make the Marlins feel like their rivals Miami Heat.
The Marlins need to make a serious pitch for a starter like Roy Oswalt, Cliff Lee or Dan Haren and a more consistent closer, such as a Joakim Soria. Most definitely they also need at least two real quality middle relievers.
The Marlins need help offensively, what about bringing in an Adam Dunn, Carlos Lee or David de Jesus, or getting a Hank Blalock or Ty Winnington out of the bench.
There are always those Pittsburgh Pirates willing to trade anybody at anytime. Go to the trade market and bring real Latino stars if the Marlins really wants to be the "Team of the Americas".
Bottom line, the Marlins have to get their game and court their fans. No new stadium will be the miracle of this franchise that in many nights truly looks like there are 500 fans in their seats at "whatchamacallit" stadium.
It is up to the Marlins if they really want that major league baseball be the real heat in South Florida.


text:
PHILADELPHIA - Right now Chip Kelly isn't as good as he is lucky.
But that's something he need not apologize for.
Kelly and the Eagles have climbed to the top of the NFC East with just two victories in five games, the wins over teams who are a combined 1-8.
The groundbreaking up-tempo offense has been less of a factor in the success than the defense. Last week the Eagles won largely due to four takeaways against, not coincidentally, a floundering New York Giants squad leading the league in giveaways.
And the winless Tampa Bay Buccaneers are on deck Sunday.
Kelly considered taking the plunge into the NFL with the Buccaneers two Januaries ago. Sandy shores, the world famous Courtney Campbell Causeway, grouper sandwiches and football. The Bucs even have success in their past. They've won a Super Bowl.
Kelly must have wrestled with the choice. Stay in Oregon or take a condo overlooking the Gulf of Mexico? Stick with a circle of friends including Nike executive Phil Knight or go global with Malcolm Glazer, who also owns the world renowned Manchester United soccer team?
'I don't look at decisions as tough,' Kelly said. 'I don't look at decisions as difficult. I think you get all the information necessary than you make the decision and you move forward. We had an outstanding year staying at Oregon and those memories we had there, those players that I had an opportunity to coach, that staff I was with, I love those guys. I still love those guys. So I think it was a good decision for me at that point in time.'
It looks like a better decision now.
Greg Schiano, formerly of Rutgers, was the fallback plan for the Buccaneers. With an 0-4 record and a team divided over the ditching of quarterback Josh Freeman and the submarining of opponents killing games with the kneel-down, he's running out of friends as well as favorite memories.
When Schiano looks across the field he'll see the guy the Glazer brothers really wanted to hire. Only then will the reality sink in.
'I was involved in the process, yeah,' Schiano said. 'And that's kind of the reason I knew I really wanted the job. I really loved my time at Rutgers and had plenty of opportunities to go elsewhere and at the end I just never felt like it was right. One of the things that actually really led me to believe this was the time was when I thought that Chip had accepted the job, I was angry. So that kind of told me I did want it. In a few hours there was an opportunity maybe to be involved with it again and that's when I kind of said I really do want to do this. And fortunately it worked out. It's a great organization that I work for.'
After a 6-4 start with the Bucs, Schiano is 1-9. He handled the quarterback situation so badly his only chance to stick around rests on the arm of rookie Mike Glennon.
Kelly, on the other hand, doesn't need to apologize for what the Eagles are, which is in ideal position to accelerate their rebuilding project.
After the Bucs, the Eagles (2-3) get the Cowboys (2-3) at Lincoln Financial Field. That's a game the Birds could win almost because of the hatred their fans have for Dallas.
Then the Eagles host the Giants (0-5), who could be discussing a possible coaching change, followed by a road game against the Raiders (2-3) who may have canned their coach by then.
All of those opponents are going to need help to reach the playoffs, meaning the Eagles have a golden opportunity to get better in Year One for Kelly. The way the injury report looks now the Eagles not only can discover who they really are, but possibly who their quarterback of the future really is.
The Eagles won last weekend despite getting just two quarters from starting quarterback Michael Vick, who pulled a hamstring.
Nick Foles threw two touchdown passes in relief and clearly is being prepped to start against the Bucs.
While Foles helped the Eagles drop a season-high 36 points on the Giants there was considerable room for improvement except in one major department: he didn't turn the ball over. That, not the lack of mobility, always has been Foles' biggest issue. Almost any quarterback who can play turnover-free can produce in the Kelly offense.
The Eagles need to put together four quarters of the Kelly offense together.
Schiano needs a 12-game winning streak.
It's better to be good than lucky. But luck sure can help you get good.


text:
This section presents information-and decision-support tools to strengthen the ability of policymakers, food policy experts, and researchers to respond quickly to dynamic developments in the world food system. The latest research findings on policy responses to food crises, policy tools to assess impact, and knowledge about key concepts related to food security for strengthening capacity of decision-makers can be accessed in this section. The objective is to make available well-defined sets of information and analysis that governments can employ to manage global food crises and other future challenges in their respective countries. A strong national capacity to respond effectively and adequately to food policy challenges ultimately translates to poverty reduction, agricultural growth, and economic development.
Unless explicitly stated otherwise, all tools provided in the Policy Analysis Tools section are public goods.


text:
This is my home for things that don't, for one reason or another, belong to Twitter, Facebook or my other blogs. Here you will find my thoughts and musings on topics ranging from climate change and energy issues to mobile & IT technologies, reviews on things I read/see and from cultural commentary to photos. In other words, the topics are all over the place - so if you're looking for a blog with a consistent focus on a single issue, keep looking :)
Tag Archives: trends
What if the techno-utopians are wrong? In search of alternative narratives.
What do you think when you think about the future? Do you think about the future? Most people don't all that often, but the topic is hard to escape amidst today's future-focused rhetoric. It's all about innovating for the future, … Continue reading
Posted in Culture, Psychology, Technology Tagged dark mountain project, doomers, narrative, techno-utopians, technology, trends Leave a comment


text:
Oracle Cloud
The Equinix interconnection platform delivers seamless, private connectivity to Oracle Cloud in six metros in the US, Europe and APAC. Enterprise customers with a presence in these Equinix IBX data centers leverage Oracle Cloud Infrastructure FastConnect, giving them a high-performance, private access to Oracle Cloud.
Through Equinix Cloud Exchange™ Fabric, customers connect their corporate IT infrastructure directly to Oracle Cloud for high-performance solutions and enhanced user experience. Utilizing Equinix Cloud Exchange™ Fabric improves performance, reduces costs, increases security and leverages cloud computing for more applications.
- Equinix Cloud Exchange™ Fabric is optimized for connectivity to Oracle Cloud services, even in metros with no local Oracle Cloud Infrastructure FastConnect presence
- Remote Access: Customers establish a secure connection to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure via network service providers enabled on the platform
- Connections and Speed: Virtual connections via Equinix Cloud Exchange™ Fabric
- Near real-time provisioning
- Simplified WAN architecture
- Cost effective
- Equinix Cloud Exchange Fabric is optimized for private, on demand connectivity to Oracle Cloud services, including Database-as-a-Service, Database Backup-as-a-Service, Big Data-as-a-Service, Exadata-as-a-Service, Compute-as-a-Service and Storage-as-a-Service.
- Gain the ability to move applications and workloads between the cloud and on-premises environments quickly and easily.
- Hi-Speed Connection to move large data, like database synchronization or database backup.
- Access to two dozen Oracle Cloud PaaS & IaaS services including Database, Java, Integration, Analytics, Compute & Storage.
- Directly connect to Oracle Cloud from your co-located private cloud in a common Equinix data center or on-premise facilities through participating network service providers.
- Establish private peering sessions with Oracle using the same methods your business would use with public sessions.
- Common architecture between On-Premise/Private Cloud and Oracle's public cloud.
- Reduce costs by as much as 10 times depending on data volumes and architecture.
Oracle Cloud scales globally with direct connectivity and is available in the following seven Equinix locations: Chicago, Washington D.C./Northern Virginia, London, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Sydney and Melbourne.
Remote connection to Oracle Cloud is now available via ECX Fabric in six more North American metro areas: Atlanta, Dallas, Los Angeles, Silicon Valley, Seattle & Toronto and ten more European metro areas: Dublin, Düsselforf, Geneva, Helsinki, Paris, Manchester, Milan, Munich, Stockholm, Helsinki & Zurich.
Oracle Cloud via Equinix
Learn more about Oracle Cloud
See how you can significantly cut your data transfer costs and seamless build a hybrid cloud solution.
Learn about Oracle FastConnect
- IDC whitepaper - Hybrid IT: Why Cloud Adjacency Matters
- ESG whitepaper - Multicloud, Low Latency Oracle Databases with Exadata and Equinix
- Three Keys to Digital Transformation – Speed, Volume & Gravity
- Equinix and Oracle®: Unlocking the Future with Cloud Adjacency
- Equinix and Oracle® Showcase Strategy to Optimize Cloud Performance for Digital Business at Oracle OpenWorld
- Maximize the Capabilities of Oracle® GoldenGate
- Optimizing Oracle Cloud Infrastructure through Interconnection
- Equinix Cloud Exchange™ enables Oracle® Cloud Platform customers to achieve greater hybrid and multicloud performance
Press Releases
- Equinix to Launch Direct Access to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure in 16 Additional Markets (Oct 23, 2017)
- Equinix and Oracle Offer Direct Access to Oracle Cloud in Asia Pacific (Jul 5, 2017)
- Equinix and Oracle Collaborate to Offer Direct Access to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (May 4, 2017)
- Equinix and Oracle Collaborate to Bring Oracle Cloud Services to Equinix Cloud Exchange in Six Global Markets (Oct 28, 2015)


text:
Intelligent Text Labeling with Attributes
An attribute is information that has been attributed to a feature, such as a river name, forest type, population value, house number, or country name. Attributes are commonly available with geographic information system (GIS) data.
Unlike standard graphic design software, Ortelius has the ability to store attribute information associated with each map feature. This information is stored behind the scenes in the Ortelius Object Inspector. Labels are able to use that attribute information. We call these "intelligent labels" because they automatically use attribute information, such as road names, if that information exists behind the scenes. Intelligent labeling works the same for point, line, and area labels.
To Place Intelligent Labels Using Attribute Information:
Intelligent labels are placed exactly the same way as free-text labels, without any bulky menus to get in the way.
- Add a label to a feature.
- Choose the Select [s] tool and double-click to select the label for editing.
- In place of the label text, use a label tag (two percent signs "%%") followed by the attribute identifier as a placeholder for the label's value. For instance, "%%name" would auto-populate the label with the attribute "Name". Label tag identifiers are not case sensitive (in other words, %%NAME returns the same result as %%Name).
HINT: If an attribute identifier contains a space in its name, quotation marks can be used in the attribute tag, e.g., %%"name 2″ will recognize the identifier whereas %%name 2 would interpret only "name" as the identifier.
To Combine Attribute Information on Labels Using Concatenate:
Concatenation – it's a long word for something so easy. Creating labels that link together more than one attribute value (technically referred to as concatenation) is easily accomplished without complicated expressions.
- Add a label to a feature.
- Choose the Select [s] tool and double-click to select the label for editing.
- In place of the label text, use a label tag. Write a statement using the '"%%identifier" of the attributes you want in the label, where "%%identifier" is the tag for the attribute value. Use spaces or other standard characters between words just as you would write them naturally. For example, as seen in the Object Inspector, "Name" "Number" and "Type" are different attributes of the selected feature. We use these three attributes for its label by entering "%%number %%name %%type" to have the label read "401 Market Street".
To Use Label Codes:
The Ortelius labeling system is so flexible that you can be very specific with just a few codes. In the following example, we demonstrate just how easy it is to use only part of an attribute phrase, as well as replacing a label with all uppercase characters.
- Add a label to a feature.
- Choose the Select [s] tool and double-click to select the label for editing.
- In place of the label text, use a label tag. Open the Object Inspector to see what attributes are available and their Identifier names. Use the "%%identifier" for intelligent labeling. In this example, the attribute value "Some pot holes", where the label reads "Some", so we type the attribute identifier "%%Condition" and tag it with ".1″, to return the corresponding first word in a phrase.
The following tag codes are available:
- %%identifier.1, .2, .3, … .9 – Returns the corresponding first, second, third, etc. word of the attribute value up to 9
- %%identifier.2 – Returns the second word of the attribute value
- %%identifier.2.3 – Returns the second and third word of the attribute value (it is possible to combine tag codes)
- %%identifier.E – Returns the end word of the attribute phrase
- %%identifier.U – Returns an uppercase label
- %%identifier.L – Returns a lowercase label
- %%identifier.C – Returns a capitalized label
- %%identifier.S – Returns a shortened (short) or abbreviated version of some common map words, including "St." for street, "Rd." for road, "Ln." for lane, "St." for saint, "Av." for avenue, "Pk." for park, "Cty." for city, "pop." for population", "R." for river, and "Is." for island
Tag codes are a real problem solver. For example, if the attribute "Name" reads "State Road 65" but you want to label a road shield with just "65", use the label identifier and code "%%name.E" to return the end word of the attribute phrase.
To Define Intelligent %% Label Templates in the Style Inspector:
Label styles go hand-in-hand with the map's styles and symbols. Unless otherwise defined, default labels are rendered with Helvetica font and sized proportionately to the size of the shape or symbol. Custom label templates are defined in the Style Inspector (and before an object is turned into a symbol). Labels use the underlying style from a Label Adornment as a template. See Creating New Symbols for steps to define a label template for a symbol.
Label Adornments can be a constant string of text, free text associated with a label, or text associated with an intelligent label. Some pre-defined tags are available from the 'Tag" drop-down list. For example, choose the tag "Name" from the drop-down Tag list to automatically add the text adornment tag "%%Name". If no attribute exists when labeling symbols on your map, the label template will still be applied and the new label will read "Label" ready for free-text editing.
Follow the instructions provided above to define a custom intelligent label using tags, tag codes, and concatenate.


text: Would you like the Jive icon to be included in the Font-Awesome icon collection? If you click 'Yes', why not vote for its corresponding GitHub issue? Icon Request: icon-jive · Issue #2186 · FortAwesome/Font-Awesome · GitHub Find the Font-Awesome project at: Font Awesome, the iconic font and C... What do you think about the new Getting Started documents in the Jive Community? We are currently trying to fill in as many gaps as possible in the developer documentation, with an emphasis on the getting started experience. We want to help newcomers understand exactly what is offered by the Jive ... How Would You Rate the Q2-2014 Jive Developer Webinar? As we look to improve our developer webinars and make them more valuable to you, we wanted to get your thoughts. Please rate the Webinar on the following merits: Tone - Was the tone what you expected, did it kee... How Would You Rate Your Interest Into the 2013-14 Jive Developer Program As we look to ways to engage with our Jive Developers, we are constantly trying new things. Based on the blog post announced here: Announcing the 2013-14 Jive Developer Program and the most recent discussions in th... Which new feature do you like most in Jive version 7 Which new feature do you like most in Jive version 7


text:
I'd like to pretend that I'm above paying attention to the LeBron James circus, but like everyone else, I spent a lot of today just sitting around waiting on some revelatory Adrian Wojnarowski tweet, so that a question like What if someone was just as dominant as LeBron James, but he played baseball?! has a whole lot of appeal.
Happily, Jeff Sullivan over at Fangraphs put the work into answering it. His approach is simple and makes sense. There are various ways to measure LeBron's impact, but by the most elegant and basic one, he was responsible for around 2.3% of the on-court value of all NBA players last year, a figure a ballplayer would have to put up 23 WAR to match. (To put that in context, Barry Bonds peaked at around 12 during the height of his early-aughts magnificence.)
This is one of those things where all the fun is in the journey, not the destination, so you should go read Sullivan's mildly deranged calculations. The upshot, though, is that to get to 23 WAR, a player would have to basically be Mike Trout if all his extra base hits turned into home runs, if he traded 70 outs for singles, if he played shortstop as well as possible, and if he stole 50 or so bases a year without ever being caught. You can sum it all up this way:
What does it take? A literal full season of being an incredible defensive shortstop. And, to go with good baserunning, the player hits about .438/.527/.820, with a .560 wOBA. For what it's worth, in 2002, Barry Bonds ran a full-season .544 wOBA. He was worth more than 12 WAR. Basically, you can imagine that version of Barry Bonds, but completely healthy, and unparalleled in the field. Also, better at the plate. I don't know what to do about intentional walks, but I don't need to make this any more complicated.
By this approach, the baseball equivalent of LeBron James is absolute peak Barry Bonds at the plate with, I don't know, absolute peak Ozzie Smith in the field. And, presumably, this imaginary player is better both at the plate and in the field. And he doesn't miss a single game. So.
This is, actually, the more conservative of two approaches Sullivan uses. By another reckoning, a ballplayer would have to be "Micah Owings crossed with God" to match LeBron's value.
Of course all of this is largely a measurement of the difference between two games. Mike Trout can't just decide to take all of the Angels' at-bats for a couple of innings, whereas LeBron can definitely decide that none of his teammates are going to touch the ball for a quarter. Whatever! The whole exercise is ridiculous and fun and you should go check it out and we should all hope that LeBron takes his talents to Double-A ball.
Photo via Getty


text:
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Claude Giroux, Simon Gagne and Max Talbot all scored to help the Philadelphia Flyers snap a three-game losing streak and beat the Buffalo Sabres 3-2 on Sunday night.
Ilya Bryzgalov stopped 18 shots for the Flyers (12-14-1), who are still on the outside of the Eastern Conference playoff race.
They are ahead of the Sabres, who are buried in last place in the Northeast Division and have lost four straight. Brian Flynn and Jochen Hecht scored for Buffalo.
With both teams struggling, tempers were short. Buffalo's Mike Weber slugged it out with Wayne Simmonds, and Sabres center Steve Ott threw a punch at Kimmo Timonen.
Hecht scored early in the third to make it 3-2 and give the Sabres some life. The Sabres didn't let up minutes later and had a shot trickle past Bryzgalov. Philadelphia's Braydon Schenn made a split-second lunge and knocked away the puck just before it crossed the line for the tying goal.
The Flyers will take the stops however they come. They needed this one a day after a 3-0 loss at Boston. The Flyers held a closed-door team meeting after the game.
Philadelphia was coming off a 5-4 loss to Pittsburgh on Thursday, going scoreless in the final two periods and blowing a 4-1 lead. The scoring drought reached five periods on Saturday.
There was no danger of a scoring slump against the Sabres. Gagne scored his second goal since he was reacquired from Los Angeles on a slow trickler past Ryan Miller on the power play. Talbot scored a short-handed goal minutes later for a 2-0 lead.
Flynn punched in the rebound to make it 2-1 midway through the first.
Then they rumbled.
Simmonds took out Tyler Ennis and followed it with a fight against Weber. Simmonds connected with three straight rights to the side of the face and easily won that fight as the crowd roared in appreciation. Weber was hit with a misconduct.
Ott threw a punch at Timonen to end the first. Flyers forward Scott Hartnell went up to Ott, and the two jawed at each other as they left the ice to end the period.
Giroux made Buffalo pay when he scored only 17 seconds into the third for Philadelphia's second power-play goal and a 3-1 lead.
The Flyers fumbled the puck at the blue line, and Hecht capitalized with a short-handed goal to make it 3-2.
Each team had more hits than goals from there. Buffalo forward Nathan Gerbe tried to rough up Giroux along the back boards with hits to the back and head. Luke Schenn stood up for Giroux and sent Gerbe into the boards.
NOTES: The Flyers will play three games over the next 13 days. … The Flyers have already played six sets of back-to-back games this season. … The Sabres are 3-4-1 since they fired coach Lindy Ruff. Only Florida has fewer points in the Eastern Conference.
(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)